


The Dancing Blue

by MaddieMare



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Island/Bay/Sea/Ocean?, Merskeleton
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-12 20:24:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11169417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieMare/pseuds/MaddieMare
Summary: Papyrus the Skeleton, a simple fisherman living on an Island Town with humans and monsters finds something quite unexpected when fishing.Sans the Merskeleton (or Mermaid), a rebellious mermaid who gets himself into trouble.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is mainly inspired by this post. Also sorry if I keep saying sea and ocean, I’m not good at saltwater stuff. Hope you enjoy. http://symphysins.tumblr.com/post/161086859111/may-merskeles-even-though-may-is-almost-over

The pesky cries of seagulls became a routinely alarm clock for the skeleton fisherman. With a sigh, the tall monster pushed himself out of bed and began to get ready for the day. Pulling up his tattered pants and securing it around his waist with a rust belt, the lone fisherman planned out which spots to cast his nets. He draped his old jacket on and did the buttons before wrapping his lucky blue scarf around his neck. Passing his barren kitchen, he grabbed a loaf of bread before dashing out the door, careful to lock it on the way out. 

The smell of sea salt along with the waves crashing into the rocky sides of the Island always made Papyrus stop in his tracks and take in the beautiful horizon. By the position of the sun, it was approximately a little before noon, but still quite early in the morning. He still had plenty of time to spare before casting to the ocean, so he absentmindedly strolled along the small towns edge while eating away at his breakfast. 

By the time he made it to town square, he could smell bread from the bakers already being made for the day to come. Fishermen like himself were also making their way towards the bay, but casually chatted with their fellow neighbors passing by. Gradually but surely, the small town of Home, (greatly named by their mayor) was awakening to a new day with humans and monsters living and working together in peace. 

He had walked past the sheriff’s office before having his arm pulled back by a familiar figure. “Hey Papyrus, haven’t seen you in a while! You’re always running  off to your boat before I can ever say hi!” 

“Sorry Undyne,” Papyrus said nervously. “Last week was mating season for  Striped bass, and you know us fishers.”

“Always gotta be the first,” She chanted. “You’ve practically got it memorized in my mind Pap, and I get it. So go, I’ll catch up to you later, gotta file some reports.” 

“See ya sheriff.” Papyrus replied as the two friends split apart to their duties. 

Upon arrival to the docks, a handful of monsters and humans were already there. Gathering nets, fishing poles and bait. Each fisherman was assigned a shed to store their belongings, so Papyrus went over to his and began untangling his many blue nets.

Why didn’t Papyrus have any fishing rods? He never thought it was right to harm any creature, no matter if they were accused of killing any of the townspeople or were made for food. Papyrus didn’t even kill the fish he caught, he kept them in buckets and sold them alive to people who had to kill them themselves or wanted a pet. Sadly, it was never the latter of the two that Papyrus hoped for. 

With the bait, buckets and nets stored on his boat, Papyrus untied the rope keeping the boat from floating away and paddled his way out to the deep sea. 

Papyrus’ boat wasn’t state of the art with a cabin and steering wheel, but it was enough to store fish, walk around on, have it’s own pulley system and the cheapest he could buy with such benefits. 

While Papyrus rowed to his desired destination, he passed a few fishermen and civilians just on a stroll around the island. All he wished good day to in which they would exchanged back. 

Once Papyrus was satisfied by his location, he tossed some food scraps and some carcasses of dead fish he gotten from a fellow fisherman, he lowered one of his nets into the salty sea and waited. 

\-----

Not many creatures traveled through the Open Vast. A lone Sea Turtle and a small schools of Bogas were the only ones venturing through the forbidden area. Well, there was a certain mermaid who felt rebellious to the ocean’s laws. Father had warned him of the Open Vast many times, mainly on stories of fish and other fellow mermaids being foolish as to go up and get themselves captured by the Landwalkers. The stories failed to frighten the young mermaid, they instead caused him to become more curious of the Open Vast and the Landwalkers. How  _ did  _ they even manage to capture anyone? Did they fight them in the water? Did they use a spell? That’s what the young mermaid wanted to find out. 

Sans had been hiding in this exact spot behind the algae covered bolder since the light had shown across the sea floor. By now, he wished he had stayed home to sleep instead of sneaking out in the middle of the sea. 

In a sigh of defeat, the merskeleton was about to give up and return home, when something caught his eye. A string like material, sparkly blue like the waters around, was falling endlessly to the sea floor. It swayed to the waves motions and glistened like the many jewels his people had stolen from Landwalkers’ lost vessels. 

Sans couldn’t look away, it was as if he were put in trace by the dancing string. He didn’t even notice himself moving towards it until he was face to with it. 

He kept a good distance from the dancing blue whenever it leaned his way, never sure if it were reaching out to him on purpose. Part of him scolded himself for being so paranoid, this looked perfectly safe. Did father lie all these years so he couldn’t see any of this? Who was he kidding, of course he did! 

His moment of anger was cut short when the dancing blue brushed against his face. Out of panic, the young mermaid dashed away to the side, his breathing had picked up in speed. Once his mind finally cleared, a feeling in his bones was urging him to do something quite daring. 

He wanted to touch the dancing blue.

The young mermaid cautiously swam towards the free-falling string. His hand hesitantly made it’s way to it, until his fingers were wrapped by it. Sans figured the dancing blue would be soft, comforting. But it felt rough, old, unpleasant.

He groaned in irritation. This whole build up, him fighting with himself, something interesting actually appearing in his life, it all turned out to be a disappointing slap in the face. Maybe this is why father warned him from Landwalkers, because they’re boring! All Sans wanted to do now was go home and sleep as much as he can. Only problem was, the dancing blue wouldn’t let go. 

Adrenaline now in full power rushed through the merskeleton’s bones and he violently twisted and thrashed around distortedly, hoping to escape the dancing blue’s grasp. But it only made things worse. The dancing blue now enveloped itself over the young mermaid’s body. The more he moved, the more it engulfed  him. 

His mind abruptly screeched at him to dart forward, and in a state of hysteria, Sans followed his mind’s directions. Instead of escaping the cluster of string surrounding him, he heard a sickening crack from behind. 

Sans’ jaw shot open in agony, but his screams were vocaless in the empty sea. Air bubbles rushed from his mouth and up towards the surface to escape. He turned his head to the direction of the unbearable pain, the sight of blood drifting in the water told him enough.

His tail was stuck between the dancing blue when he tried to escape, that summed it all up. 

But now, Sans no longer felt pain, he was tired. He didn’t care anymore, he knew he was going to die, he would never see his father again, his friends...all because he was wanted to see Landwalkers. How ironic that he gets to see them now, only to be slaughtered shortly after. 

A dry laugh filled the Open Vast as the dancing blue be lifted up to the surface, with a broken mermaid trapped within. 

\-----

It was common for Papyrus to space out and daydream at times, usually on lazy fishing days. So when the net bell began shaking violently, you can guarantee that he was this close to a heart attack. Scattering to his feet, Papyrus strode over to the pulley station on his boat, careful not to step on any buckets and chum. Unhooking the rope, the skeleton proceeded to pull up his first catch of the day, humming a soft tune as he worked. 

With the net halfway up, the bell came to a stop. Papyrus hoped that whatever he caught didn’t managed to escape, but part of him cried out in triumph if that were the case. And if he were to be honest, this was one of the heaviest catches he ever had. Maybe he caught a large school. 

One final pull brought the net out of the salty water, something was definitely in there, but he couldn’t quite make it out. A few more pulls brought the net up all the way, Papyrus with his unoccupied hand on his knee as he gathered his breath. He looked up to see his catch, but ultimately froze. In the net was a small skeleton monster like himself, staring at him with shrunken eye lights. The only difference between the two, was that the other skeleton’s lower body lacked legs, and instead had a magical blue fish body. 

Today, Papyrus the skeleton, caught a mermaid.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, there will be a dark subject in this chapter. If you are uncomfortable with such topic please skip the sentences that have this next to it: *

Papyrus’ breath hitched to an abrupt stop at his sudden catch of the day. He didn’t know what to feel.

He caught a mermaid.

A mermaid. Half fish, half human (or in this case, half monster). In folklore passed through generations refer them to be beautiful aquatic beings living in the masses of water surrounding humans and monster. Some written to be kind and wise, others pure of hatred and bloodshed. Those stories written of long claim to be blessed by these creatures, other oppose by stating the hybrids to lure fishermen to their watery graves. With all the bickering and persuasion of beliefs, none were ever truly able to discover the real truth of these sea dwellers. They rarely resurface from their waters, they live far too deep for any land being to find them. Only snippits and carcasses truly show the existence of these beings. No solid proof.

Until today.

Papyrus had always pictured mermaid as regular fish when he was younger. Odd, emotionless, bland.

But now, actually face to face with one of these legendary creatures, he was able to disprove his ideas of young.  
Mermaid don’t seem odd at all, of course the lower part of the body clearly screams different. But the top half just shows any regular monster. In fact, if they had stuck their head out of the waters earlier, Papyrus would’ve assumed that a crazy skeleton decided to swim across the ocean.

The mermaid in his net did not look emotionless one bit, he looked traumatized. His eye lights shrunken to the size of pinpricks, and he seemed to be shaking a bit. But can you really blame him, he was suddenly caught in a net while he was probably swimming about in the ocean without a care in the world, minding his own business and here he is! Maybe this is their first time seeing someone like himself, but who knows.

And the mermaid before did not look boring and bland as he once imagined, far from it actually. Their godly, pearl white skeletal frame, along with their magical blue tail. It made the hybrid monster look enchanting, beautiful without even trying to. Something else from the mermaid (or should he say, merskeleton) caught Papyrus’ eye. A sudden hue of red along it’s magic-conjured tail. No, not just red, almost like crimson red...and something white.

Then he saw it.

Amongst the blue net that the merskeleton was captured in had a clutter of tangled knots. Upon closer inspection, the knots seemed to be tied around their tail. The rest after that left Papyrus speechless.

A bloody galore left the mermaid’s tail broken, but the now tainted blue nets seemed to have dug into the wound, causing the manifested flesh to split halfway. The bone clearly visible, and broken in half, covered in blood.

Papyrus gasped, eye sockets widening as his hand moved to cover his mouth. This poor creature, was in pain, both mentally and physically. And he was to blame.  
The fisherman shuddered at the thought. He never meant to bring harm to others, but he just did what he could for money. And the price? Other being’s lives.  
But he didn’t want to let this poor mermaid suffer or even die.

He wanted to do something.

Papyrus looked up from the ground, hoping the sickening sight would clear his mind from any further unwanted self pity. The merskeletons eyelid’s were lopsided saggily, bags of grey were beginning to form under his eyes as well, most likely from lack of sleep.

The hybrid skeleton looked so weak, hopeless, tired. Like they were awaiting the sweet relief of death to release the all the pain coursing through him. To ease him from the world’s suffering and into the calm darkness that all withered souls retrieved to.

But Papyrus wouldn't give up that easily.

He wasn’t going to just stand by and let this magnificent creature bleed out in his net! He wouldn't let death win the battle this easily. His eye lights hinted at the mermaid being about his own age, the world still ahead of him, he was too young to die! He probably had family, friends and loved ones that were probably worried sick of the merskeleton’s disappearance. And Papyrus was going to make sure that this injured creature in need would live to see his family again!

Papyrus took bold, yet warm hearted steps as he approached the sluggish merskeleon in it’s dangling prison. Their dim eye lights laid directly on him through his whole travel. Once Papyrus got to the net, the merskeleton struggled lazily in effort to escape, but after his pathetic attempt, his eyelids sunk down automatically, slipping him into an unconscious state. As if all hope vanished from within him and accepted whatever unholy fate his future had planned.

Upon the mermaid action, Papyrus quickly rushed himself to unhook the net from the rust hook. He struggled hard not to tamper too much the net, all in hope not to conflict any further damage into the mermaid already severely injured tail.

Once the merskeleton safely set down on the wooden dock, the skeletal fisherman pulled out his fisherman pocket knife from a pouch poorly stitched onto his jacket. With a swift cut the net broke apart, he moved onto the more stomach clenching part. Papyrus decided to remove his gloves for this, not wishing to stain his luck attire.  
And boy that was probably one of the best decisions Papyrus ever made. From just one touch from his phalanges, his fingers were laced with the merskeleton’s blood. It would have taken ages to fully clean the blood soaked gloves if he’d chosen to wear them.

The only thing that Papyrus chose to leave was the part of the net sliced into the tail of the hybrid. He didn’t want to pull out or scrape any of the mermaid’s flesh, and the possible pain it might cause?

Which is why he planned to take the merskeleton to Alphys. She had worked on many surgeries and operations on the past, dare he say some worse ones? Alphys may be the one of the only few doctors in Home, always busy with other patients and caught up in work, but she was also a friend, and Undyne’s lover. Whenever someone she cared for was hurt or sick, she always pushed everything aside and dashed over to their home with all her medical gear.

She always was a gem.

And Papyrus was determined that Alphys wouldn't let him down.

With this newly found determination to save the unconscious mermaid, Papyrus rowed faster with each force of the paddle.

He had to hurry, he had to get to Alphys’ right away. He could just see the town not too far now, he had to hurry.

\-----

The small reptilian monster sat at her desk, flipping through her schedule appointments all the while tapping her chew pen against her lips.  
She just finished her check up with Dov Beir, and it was about quarter to three, so who did she have booked next again?

Flipping to the current date, she let out a pained groan of dread.

She had scheduled the Dreemurr’s yearly checkup today.

Don’t get her wrong, she loved the Dreemurr family. A calm, humble family. Always putting the town’s priorities over themselves.

Asgore was a great mayor, a bit of a softy once you got to know him, but intimidating once a threat arose.

Toriel, Asgore’s wife and Home’s deputy mayor. Asides from her already active schedule, she works fulltime at the local school for human and monster children, wanting each child to live a happy and well planned future.

Then there’s their son, Asriel. The soon to be mayor once he grew up to the right age, that is if he plans to follow his family legacy. A kind hearted boy, but a bit shy like Alphys herself. The boy really was too sweet buttercup.

And finally, their adopted child, Chara. Chara was a bright soul, always determined to cheer up their family and friends with their awful words play known as puns. Even though Chara was known for their laid back facade, they actually had a dark past.

*When Chara first came to Home, they along with many other children were being shipped to the town for human trafficking. Apparently the human of this whole operation, who was their own father, thought he could gain some easy gold from any sick humans who were hungry for children. Luckily Undyne and the local officers caught the pimp and his sick clients before any children were harmed. The children, a total of thirty, were sent straight to the orphanage and psychiatrist while the town hall enhanced any and all shipment check in and town laws. No one in Home wanted such cruel events to transpire again.

*Everyone wanted to believe that the worse was over, but more tragedy struck after the next. Many children died within days due to malnourishment and other sickly diseases and infections the children have obtained from their days of slavery. After the downfall of their friends and fellow past prisoners, many shown to have gotten depression, anxiety, paranoia, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders that lead to suicide or insanity.

As the children suffered, the town grieved for the many loss of children they’ve received in a short amount of time.

From all of this misery, only three children remained who still seemed to be stable from their traumatic past lives. A young girl, whose right arm was decapitated due to an infection slowly killing her nerves. A teenage boy, who lacked reading skills, but enjoyed ripping out books and causing chaos. And then there was Chara, an emotionless child who spent their time in the orphanage garden.

Many of the townspeople felt sympathy for the remaining orphans, some even went their way to adopt them and give them the love they deserve. The girl without an arm got adopted immediately by a nuclear family of humans who were nice to her and didn’t treat her differently with her new disability. The teenage boy got adopted by a male human psychiatrist he was assigned to for therapy. Both had a close brother bond, and that was enough for the troubled boy.

Sadly the same wasn’t said for Chara. The human child grew hostile whenever any human came within five feet of them. They would back away or even growl at human nurses or human psychiatrist, which is why the orphanage only allowed monster employees to work with Chara. It seems as if the child had a deep fear and hatred for adult humans, most likely due to their past experiences, but they seemed more eased and even joyous around monsters. Maybe because they could feel the love and kindness monsters were made of. Which is the main reason the Dreemurrs decided to adopt Chara. And that decision changed the family forever.  
As those past memories soon parted, Alphys looked up at the clock. 2:50. The Dreemurrs would be here at around 3:10. She could already imagine what would play out today just by past visits.

Asriel would be silently crying behind Toriel, Chara already had the fun of tormenting their brother’s underdeveloped mind with promises of shots and unexpected surgeries. Chara joking around as Alphys checked their blood pressure and heart beat, their puns getting more creative and more bad as the years pass. Asgore shutting out all emotions as his ears were check and getting a yearly dose of medicine for his lungs problems. And Toriel, oh boy! Toriel panicking each time her family was check, but remaining surprisingly calm once it was her turn.

Alphys pushed her chair back and stood up, making her way to the syringe and medicine labled cabinets to prepare Asgore’s shots. That was, until loud knocking was heard from the pounding on her office door.

Hesitantly, she stepped away from the newly opened cabinet and towards the door to greet her unexpected guest. Perhaps it was Undyne to invite her “romantically” on a date, or maybe someone got hurt.

Opening the door, she didn't even say a word as Papyrus rushed into the examination room. Hurrying to close the door, she faced back to Papyrus, her face heating up at the rude intrusion. The enraged demeanor softened no sooner than it arose, because in Papyrus’ arms rested a smaller comatose skeleton, their lower half wrapped in the fishermen's daily jacket. It’s light blue sleeves now stained in a dark crimson red.

“O-oh god! P-papyrus, w-wh-what happened?! W-who is this? I-I d-didn’t know there w-were o-other skelet-t-tons, t-they’re so r-rare!”

“Alphys, please calm down! Listen, I need you to calm down, please! Their hurt, and I need your help.” Papyrus explained, trying to stay calm himself. But the emotional panic was clearly seen in his eye lights.

Alphys nodded frantically, all the while trying to steady her breathing from the unforeseen surprise, almost failing at times. “Y-yeah, o-o-okay! Hold-d-d on, I j-just gotta c-call the D-dremurrs to cancel their c-c-checkup! Just p-put them on-on the ex-xamination t-table while I c-call them.” And with that, the yellow lizard stumbled over to the office phone.

Asides from doctor degree, Dr. Alphys had also gotten a degree in engineering, which technically made her one of Home’s best scientist as well as doctor. Thanks to her second degree, Alphys was able to join up with fellow scientist from around Home and a few other landmarks to create the rotary wall phone, though she likes to forget about her past achievement and focus more to the future.

While Alphys struggled to press the right buttons on the phone without smashing them too hard in, Papyrus took this time to lay the limb skeleton onto the table. He reached down to remove the wrapped jacket around the monster’s lower body, but harshly pulled his hands away before unraveling the creature’s hidden feature to the world. He would have to mentally prepare Alphys’ already scattered mind before introducing a wave of madness and disbelief into the poor monster’s brain.  
He took this moment to get a better look at the unconscious being before him. Their height made them look the age of a young child, but the little peak of the eye light shade from earlier hinted that the merskeleton was their age. They looked rather peaceful in their sleep, but Papyrus was fully aware that they were still undergoing the pain in their tail.

The floorboards creaking alerted him that Alphys had finished her phone call and was returning to her sudden patient. In her hands was a case that held her syringes and another with a number of Anesthesia bottles. Pulling a container out, she quickly went to work filling the syringe as she spoke.  
“W-what kind of d-damage are t-they in? An-ny fractured or b-broken bones?”

Papyrus nodded. “Yes, wrapped my jacket around the wound as you can see. But it’s seemed to have worsen a bit, it’s a half split.”  
Alphys hummed satisfied as she punctured the needle into the forearm of the monster. She scrambled back to her cabinets and returned with a set of surgical tools, as well as surgical bandage cloth for what she presumed was a broken leg. Reaching into her kit for surgical scissors, she moved on to the blood stain jacket in attempt to reach the wound without harming her patient. But she was halted in her attempts when Papyrus suddenly grabbed her arm forcefully.  
“P-papyrus, w-what are you d-doing?! I-I’m t-trying to-”

“I know, I know Alphys,” Papyrus butted in. “but you have to hear me out first, okay?”

Though a little irritated at the skeleton’s nonsense, the doctor was all ears, hoping the monster would be quick.

Papyrus breathed in, trying to find the right words to use for the heated lizard. “W-well, you see, this ‘monster’ isn’t exactly like us. I found them when fishing and I, uh, caught them in my fishing net.”

Alphys’ head perked up in shock and mostly confusion. “W-what? P-papyr-rus, y-you always cast y-your nets m-miles from s-shore. H-how could s-someone swim all t-the w-w-way from shore t-to you?”

“Like I said Alphys, they aren’t like us. Just, here, let me show you.”

Papyrus stole the scissors from Alphys’ hand and moved on to carefully cutting the jacket wrapped around the ‘skeleton’s’ lower area. The fisherman knew he could just unwrap his jacket from around the injured would without cutting his garment into shreds, but with the blood that stained his light blue sleeves, it was already too late to save them.

Reaching the bottom of the handmade bandage, Papyrus’ phalanges shook as he reached over to the cut cotton and pulled away from the middle. Blood between the jacket and wound made the removal feel like a case of detaching an old bandage off your skin. Pulling ever so slowly, the skeleton finally managed to fully separate the stained cloth from the latter’s body. He looked up at Alphys to see her response.

Her mouth was gaped open as her pupils danced in placed, her clawed fingers neared her mouth but never seemed to reach.

“Alphys,” Papyrus called in a hushed voice, not wanting to startle the poor doctor any further. “you okay?”

The yellow monster clenched her teeth and curled up her hands, pupils returning to their formal size from their tranced state. She looked towards Papyrus, and then down to the unconscious mermaid before her on her table, blood oozing from their nasty injure. Shutting her eyes, she huffed and returned her gaze to the fisherman. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. B-but, Papyrus,” Her eyes were drawn back to her patient. “a mermaid. O-out of all the t-things you find, a mermaid. I-I didn’t even think they e-existed!...They sure look beautiful like the myths say, n-not that I-I h-have a c-crush on t-them o-or a-anything, I-I’m a-a-already dating!”  
The two shared a short chuckle, Alphys mostly forcing it. “Yeah, I guess you're right.” Papyrus sighed.

Alphys clasped her hands together. “R-right! Now w-with all t-that out of t-the way, let's s-save this mythical c-creature, shall w-we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe the brighter the eye light the younger the skeleton, or the dimmer the eye light the older the skeleton? New headcannon or excuse?...never mind. _(:3」∠)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First story of the year, hope this goes well.

Papyrus poured another bucket of mild water into the bathtub, careful not to splash any of the fluid onto the casted tail of the unconscious merskeleton. The casted tail was placed gingerly on a box just few inches above the water, it was done in order to keep the dislocated tailbone within from resetting and to keep the water from ruining the still drying plaster.

The surgery was successful from what Papyrus could tell, but Alphys refused to stop doubting herself, believing that she had indeed further injured the tailed creature and secluded herself to her room in pity, but not without helping Papyrus transport the mermaid into the bathtub of course. Though, he wouldn’t be surprised if Alphys was writing away in her notebook of findings right about now, and attempting a crudely drawn sketch of the mermaid from memory. Why did her drawing always have such big eyes anyway?

Papyrus was thankful that the Doctor built her office in her own home, which was a bonus for both patients to easily find her in case of emergencies and for the doctor herself, not having to leave her home all day.

The fisherman still couldn’t wrap his head around the unexpected road of events. He caught a mermaid, maybe even the first to do so if all those fables and stories are just legends and lies.

But one question still remained: what now? When the merskeleton awakes, they’ll probably be terrified and will likely struggle in their small space. It may cause the cast to break or the bone to reset.

Where would they even put the mermaid while it came close recovery? They’d have to gradually retrain their feet-err... _fins_ before returning them back to the sea. Maybe dig a pond? But that’ll take months to complete, and the water would sink into the earth making a giant mud bath. And they can’t just avow to having a mermaid and expect all in town to help them nurse the creature to full health. Papyrus isn’t stupid, he knows that there aren’t good humans and monsters in the world, but he liked to think the best of people. But he wasn’t going to let his blind hindsight get the better of him this time though, monsters and humans might try to take the mermaid for themselves and sell them for gold, or worse, dissect them. And no, Papyrus knew not everyone was like this, but he was aware of the few soulless beings that held such characteristics.

That seemed like enough water for now. The fisherman gently placed the empty bucket onto the tiled floor. He folded his hands as he sat patiently.

He wanted to be here when the merskeleton awoken. To easen them if they began to panic and to keep the casted tail in place. What if mermaid didn’t speak english? Did they speak mermish?? He’d probably freak the merskeleton out more with his gibberish. But, if those old folktales are to be true, mermaids should be able to understand some english. It was a wild guess for all he knew.

The house remained silent as the skeleton stared blankly ahead. Alphys had probably collapsed onto her bed by now, her pacing down below in her bedroom had ceased for a while now.

The half-gaping window brought in the cool, salty summer breeze from outside. The soft fabric of the detailed curtains swayed to the beat as the breeze made its way inside, filling in every inch of the bathroom. The constant chattering of monsters and humans outside swarmed throughout the town, finishing their daily task for the day, all gathered discordantly into an abstracted mass of buzzes for all to hear. It was like a pesky bee choosing to pick a fight with you for simply choosing to spend your day in the open. Though aggravating to all, it didn’t cause much of a ruckus, so they let it be and continue on their day, or whatever time was left for said day. The sun was making its first dip into the black void of the ocean, beckoning for fisherman of the sea to retreat for the day and for town folks to make their way back to their homes from whatever errands, school, or jobs had them occupied for the day.

Papyrus was rather disappointed at himself for the lack of catches he’s gotten for the day. He was way far behind on catches, and if this kept up, he wasn’t sure if he’d last long this season. Perhaps Undyne or Alphys could help him with a job for the rest of the fishing season.

But what mattered now wasn’t the money, it was knowing that a soul he’d injured unintentionally was getting the best help available to them at the moment.

Papyrus looked out the window and into the horizon. The sun was halfway submerged into the dark, watery abyss. Was he really going to stay here for the night? Unless Alphy woke up in time to remember that the skeleton was still in her house, he took that mental question as a yes. In that case, it’d be best for him to stay in the bathroom until Alphys woke up, he wouldn’t want to give her a heart attack if she heard someone walking around her house.

He suppose it was getting pretty late, considering his disarrayed sleeping schedule, the skeleton predicted sleep would soon come upon him and pull him into dreamland. Papyrus wanted to stay up a little longer, but he couldn’t overcome the lingering drowsiness hovering over him as his vision fogged up into a dark space.

\---

Darkness. That's all there was.

Is this death?

Where was he?

He couldn’t move.

He couldn’t feel anything.

He couldn’t hear anything.

He saw nothing.

He was scared, he wanted to go home...but strangely enough, he felt the sense of ease within him.

Why though?

He wanted out.

He didn’t want this!

\---

...how long was he asleep for?

A snippet of light from the window managed to drag itself along the wooden floor, a sign of the sun’s slow assent from the ocean. It was still early, but a reasonable time for certain villagers to awake for their task.

Papyrus didn’t feel as refreshed as he hoped for, his sockets wished to sag back closed and to continue wasting away at the day; but Papyrus revolted against his body’s wishes.

The fisherman straightened himself from his seat on the stool, surprised he hasn’t collapsed onto the floor while unconscious. He rubbed his sockets with his hand, hoping to brush some of the sleeping dust away. His focus dropped to the figure in the bathtub.

Still the same.

Papyrus really hoped the merskeleton wasn’t in any pain while in this coma of theirs; but it wasn’t like he could do anything now. Just wait and be patient.

He slowly rose from the stool, his legs felt stiff upon use. The skeleton made his way to the sink, turning the dial that allowed the water’s prickling cold seep through his phalanges. Pressing said phalanges to form a bowl, some of the trickling water managed to be trapped in the container. But as more pilled in, the easier it was for a few water droplets to escape the handmade bowl’s cracks and openings, dripping back down into the sink, never to be seen again.

The skeleton raised his hands and splashed the small collection of frigid water onto his face. The cold sensation irritating to his tired soul; luckily, it was the key to washing away the sleeping dust stashed in his sockets.

A series of splashes and what sounded like a agitated fish concealed in a tank erupted behind him, causing the skeleton to jump in place. The chilling water cupped in his hand were launched into the air and sprinkled down randomly onto the floor around him, digging their way into the creaks of the wooden planks.

But the was the least of his concerns and not much of a worry compared to what was occuring in the tub.

Puddles formed in all directions as more poured from the tub’s sides to join the rest. The creature within the tub seemed wide awake as they thrashed their body back and forth, side to side, hoping by some chance to escape their so called prison. Their constant movement must’ve distracted them from their surroundings, they probably didn't know that there was a presence of a monster.  

Papyrus was about to rush back to the tub and ease the mermaid before they hurt themselves, but that was stupid. The creature in the tub would most likely freak out even more, causing much more damage to their injured tail as they frantically searched for a way out.

The fisherman stood where he was, sweat formed on his skull due to the rather stressful predicament he’s been shoved into. He raised his hands in defense, taking a step back for extra measures. His throat dried as he fumbled to form words, desperate to think of one without starting the mermaid further. His mouth cracked opened, and he took a breath.

“H-hey! Please _stop_!”

The merskeleton stiffened instantly as the words were spoken. Their eye lights in their sockets had vanished, but Papyrus could tell that their direction was aimed on him.

The fisherman looked down with a flush, slightly embarrassed that his voice cracked out of nowhere - but it didn't matter at the moment! Clearing his throat, Papyrus spoke up again. “...you’ll hurt yourself...please calm down, I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Nothing but silence. The merskeleton remained motionless in the tub, and perhaps he was quivering in the slightest, but it was only a guess on Papyrus part.

Finally, the merskeleton raised their hand, it wasn’t shaking as he assumed it had, and gingerly placed it on the tub’s rim; though their phalanges grappled onto the metal edge for dear life immediately.

The creature’s eye lights reformed once again, but minimize their size perhaps out of fear. Papyrus didn’t mind, he was just glad that they finally calmed do-.

The mermaid jousted their body upright, water flew up in the air and came back down all around the tub. They darted around, undoubtedly for any plausible exit or ungraded room to hid in. Papyrus himself had gotten drenched in the cool spring water, and with the salty morning breeze in the air and with his thin cotton clothing on, the situation he was on was really hard to ignore. However, in the corner of his eye he could see the merskeleton picking at their casted tail curiously for a moment; but no sooner did they notice his gaze. Dropping the examination of their wrapped tail, they once again attempted to leap out of the tub. This time though, with the leverage of supporting box. And if the hybrid went on with their plan, Papyrus had no doubt in mind that the casted tail would reset terribly.

“No, wait please!” Papyrus cried out desperately. But it only showed to further provoked the mermaid with desperation to escape their prison of fear and unfamiliarity as they launched their body forward into the air and out of the tub. In doing so, thousands of water droplets followed the creature’s lead, each going their own separate path.

\-----

It was only a few seconds, but to Sans, it was one of the slowest ongoing moments in his life. It was as if time around him had began lagging.

And in that moment all to himself, as the world around him began to outright disappear, the hybrid believed that he’d be back home with his father and friends. Sans hoped and dreamed that in reality he’d actually fallen asleep again and this was all just some cruel nightmare.

But that pleasant daydream came literally crashing down to an halt as they themself was dropped down on an hardened flooring. The merskeleton’s overall body from his head to his chest was throbbing in a stinging-like sensation against the now soaked wooden floorboards. Yet, it was far less dreadful than the burst of agonizing pain pulsing from his tail.

The hybrid cried out, no, he screamed out at how much tail burned. He wanted to go back to the water, the cool freezing water he’s been accustomed to his whole life to put out the burning sensation in his fins.

As suppressed tears trickle down the Sans’ face, he frantically scratched at the floor for some was to suppress the ever growing pain, his phalanges miraculously digging into the flooring in the process, leaving permanent indents like a cat taking pleasure marking all in its path. The merskeleton could feel himself getting weaker from the ongoing pain; his mind growing fuzzy as drowsiness and exhaustion began to take its toll on the damaged creature. He now feebly pawed at the floor for an results whatsoever.

There were muffled cries in the background that couldn’t be made out. The constant distressed cries of the skeletal Landwalker rang in his nonexisting ears were followed by a feminine-like shriek.

He didn’t want to pass out again - not with _them_ in here - but of course destiny always favor the Landwalkers and he could feel himself slipping away.

 

….

 

Then he woke up.

He woke up in the same barless prison with very few he tried prior to escape from...and succeed in failing miserably at. The mermaid’s tail was still wrapped up in a strange material, but it seemed packed with cloth and other objects with a soft surface. The hybrid’s body felt somewhat numb, his arms felt weighed and he just didn’t have the energy to move his head. The only thing he could truly feel was his still aching tail sending waves of meer pain through his skeletal system, but it was far less than what he experienced before; he wouldn’t even bother moving it again.

...wait...when _was_ before? How long was he here exactly? Was everyone worried? Father must be furious by now from what he knew. He had no doubt that his father would make a search party after three nights past, probably thought he’d fallen asleep in the coral reef again.

Suddenly, to his right, he heard a deep creek, like the many large beast the Landwalkers would use for travel across the sea. But this one was much more faint than the grand beast skimming the ocean's surface, it seemed to cut itself off abruptly. Did the Landwalkers keep the beast’s youngs in these prison?

Sans lolled his gaze to the sounds origins, his breath hitched and he could feel his frame tighten harshly.

The Landwalker from before, the one that had to upper appearance as him, was in the opened space of his celled prison.

The Landwalker’s expression took on a mask of sadness and guilt, with a bit of relief thrown into the mix. But upon noticing the merskeleton’s posture, they took a step back, slowly raising their hands up for an unknown reason.

The mermaid’s mind screamed at him to escape, to flee before the Landwalker would strike him down for good. But he figured it’d be easier and less painful to experience his murder rather than miserably failing escape for the second time. Did he need to mention the pain that would burden him again?

The Landwalker didn’t strike like Sans expected them to, (at least not yet) but remained standing in the prison’s opening. Their face attempting to contain a calm demeanor, but Sans knew they’d probably be skeptical of him escaping again. Could he really blame them? His own father didn’t trust him without a watcher till he was fourteen.

The Landwalker mouth curled into a small, yet comforting smile. “Hey, it’s okay. We aren’t going to hurt you; please calm down...if you can even understand me.”

Sans’ tensed stature eased slightly, not by the Landwalker’s success in calming him, but by the sheer ridiculousness of the Landwalkers believing that they had their own made up language. Were they that ignorant?! Did they not even remember the origin of their people? Of course they didn’t, the Landwalkers back then were too embarrassed to ever speak of it again, less pass it on to one another. Landwalkers were such flawed fools. He wanted to laugh.

But the aquatic creature didn’t let his humor show. He kept his demeanor at bay, just observing the Landwalker in silence. Though Sans was less intimidated by the foolish Landwalker, he continued to keep his guard up incase they tried anything. But nonetheless, he played along with the clueless creature and nodded slowly; keeping on a weary facade as he did so.

The Landwalker seemed please and beamed at him.

“Oh, thank Asgore. This would’ve been harder if otherwise...goodness, where are my manner? Hello there, my name is Papyrus. I...may have...accidentally captured you while fishing. I didn’t mean to though! I’d never wish to do such a thing to another living creature.  But, I hurt you in the process and wanted to help heal you before letting you back into the sea. It’ll take a while before your tail is fully healed, so you’ll have to stay here for the time being...I hope you may forgive me for my troubles.”

Sans simply continued staring at... _Papyrus_ ...silently _._

Oh Amphitrite, that was a lot to take in. Sans was still quite skeptical at the being before him, they could strike him down at any moment. But, he was vulnerable multiple times already and neither times did the Landwalker _physically_ harm him in anyway. Both messing with the dancing blue on his own free-will and jumping out of his prison, thus implying the unbearable pain to himself in the process. He was sure the Landwalker would’ve ended him by that point, causing so much more work to watch over his stubbornness and will to escape; but he didn’t. He didn’t know what the Landwalker’s overall goal was at this point, but he had no choice but to go along with it.

But that doesn’t mean he's putting guard down whatsoever.

He turned his attention back to the creature before him. They themselves looked unnerved, standing idly as if looking for something to spark a conversation. Landwalkers were so awkward.

They must’ve noticed his gaze by now, and must’ve conjured up a topic to make this already unnatural situation less unsettling.

“You must be starving.” They stated, and honestly, Sans couldn’t deny it. He skipped morning meals when his rebellious mind decided to go out and explore Open Vast. The only reason being to infuriate his already stern father. No wonder the elders disowned his cruel humor.

“I’ll make you something to eat if you’d like. And I won’t poison it if that's what your thinkin.” They added with a dry laugh. “So please don’t be picky and not starve yourself. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Sans nodded.

“Umm, what exactly do you mermaid eat? Fish, seaweed? It’s fish right?”

Sans nodded once again.

“It doesn’t matter to you?”

Another nod.

“Alright,” The Landwalker sighed, moving towards the prisons exit. “It’ll take a while for me to prepare it, so please be patient. My friend, Dr. Alphys, may come in from time to time to check on you while I’m gone. She won’t hurt you, I promise. She just wants to help you get better too. Please relax and don’t strain yourself.”

The Landwalker gave the merskeleton one last look and a small wave before finally vanishing from the opening, leaving Sans in his opened prison once more.

There wasn’t much he could do now, and even though he was unconscious early for who knows how, a nap seemed like a wonderful way to pass the time. The hybrid let his skull fall back, leaning against the side of the prison wall. He stared up at the sky, or by whatever was blocking the sky, and let his mind wander.

Sans’ mind drifted to his hot headed father and his humorous friends with whatever random antics they’d come to him for. It made him wonder if they noticed him gone at all, if they were getting concerned; his father especially.

Heh, yeah right. That old merskeleton had too much work at hand to drop it all on his joke of a son.

\-----

The collected wreckage of sunken ships, scrapped marble and stone slabs from outer walls of degraded Landwalkers creations all laid here at the bottom of the sea floor, just tucked away behind the large mountains of sea rocks and other colorful coral decorated the world of water. But these forgotten remains were remodeled, freshened up for the new owners that now used them as an abode. Just patch up the holes on the sides and remove some of the unwanted extensions and accessories to call your living quarters. Not much was needed in these spaces - just a place to rest and hide out in when the surface darkens or any greater predators decide to prowl the area.

The small center was often neutral of young guppies squealing and racing one another, for they enjoyed these activities in the many wondrous hideouts and areas they come across and declared a safe haven of fun and free spirit. The older residence took it upon themselves to work on their daily assigned task that’d help keep the small community balanced and surviving. Such task were given to them as: exploring any further areas for possible use of growth, or for any dire situation leading them to abandon their old homes. Protecting the community from any threats; though such events hadn’t occurred in moons, they were still on guard. But they spent the time helping any of the younger and older residence or assisting the of mermaids with their task. Healing the sick and injured, which thankfully mostly consisted of those with a punny sickness or sometimes a grotesque injury. Searching for food, like any easily catchable small species of fish, or even better, an injured beast like the bloodthirsty shark or an old whale on it’s dying breath. Though those opportunities were often quite rare, the flesh of the large fish and mammals would last the small species moons of food. And how could they forget, guarding their home from potential intruders, a gluteness shark looking for a hearty snack, or worse; the Landwalkers.

Luckily, the Landwalkers haven’t discovered anyway to physically enter the deep waters, so they’d be safe for the time being. Hopefully forever.

This day was like any other, the tasked hybrids went on their way, and would only return if the surface reflexed an amber glow onto the ocean floor. The much older and weaker mermaids would stay at their respective homes and work on small, yet efficient task on their homes, keeping it tidy and watching over the younger guppies when they returned home from their adventures together.

One such guppy however hadn’t joined the others on such childish rituals. Instead, they were swimming through the water at full speed towards the chieftain’s living quarters and headquarters. With a few turns and some run ins with other mermaids wandering about in the community, they young hybrid finally made it to the hand-carved steps of the seamount-engraved living space.

Though the structure has been made centuries ago, it still stands to this day. A symbol of the mermaids strength and survival of all those years; and to honor those who've been lost to the selfish Landwalkers. It would be a shame if they were forced to evacuate their long lasting community, three hundred years to be exact - the longest the hybrid species have remained in one area - they’d never see their finest work again. It’d be too dangerous for anyone to return to their old homes.

Once the young mermaid entered into the seamount home, they remained afloat in place. The burst of adrenaline that had allowed to travel quickly from the Open Vast all the way to here. A few older mermaid that were already inside the structure when the child appeared, but they paid them no mind and went about their previous tasks. After all, it was common for the child to hang around here, considering the child and the chieftain’s son enjoyed spending time with one another; you know, adventures and pranks. The chieftain’s son went as far as allowing the younger mermaid to stay in their living space whenever they’d like, considering the child’s guardians were-...nevermind.

With their breathing even and their heart returning to a calm beat in their chest, the child made their way through the corridors, checking each room for the chieftain. Once they did find the room the head mermaid was in, it was clear that he was in a rather important discussion with the top mermaids of each task assignment. It was common for them to have such meetings each day, it was certainly overrated to most outsiders. But the residence of the community understood that the chieftain liked things in check, he wanted no mistakes. And it had saved them everytime.

The young mermaid really didn’t want to intrude on the chieftain’s daily meetups, but this was important; his son was at risk.

With a deep inhale, the child found the determination to march right into the room and make themselves noticed. It didn’t take long for the older mermaid to notice the child. And it wasn’t a shock that the tasked mermaid looked vexed at the child. The chieftain did as well, but his expression was much softer than the rest. After all, the young guppy was like the chieftain's second child; and the child always came to him when they were in need of something.

“Ah, Frisk, you’re early. What brings you here child?” He said, his voice deep yet rich and powerful as he spoke. But the child found it soothing, knowing well that the “adopted” father shown concern for them.

But before they could speak their mind, Wavery, the head of the Protectors, scuffed in disgust as she looked to the side. Her woven brunette hair swayed in the process, like an eel hiding out in its den. She was depicted as the second strongest in the entire community (the chieftain being first of course) after finishing an attack against a sneaky tiger shark that nearly got a bite of two guppy twins; the proof of her success is the gnarled scar permanently carved into her right arm. Most expected her to retire the task Protector or even die from her injuries, but she miraculously made it through all the pain and recovered back to former health, the only problem being that she was forced to learn to use her left arm in battle instead of her right, but healers still couldn’t decipher how such recover was possible; and it still stunned all. But they believed it to be the mercy of Amphitrite.

Though she held a high position and reputation amongst the community, her only flaw seemed to be speaking, or the power of listening and communicating. She only knows brawn after all.

“Gaster!” She barked irritably, startling the older mermaids and Frisk the most. “You called us all here for daily checks...everyday to be exact! Shouldn’t the kid be familiar to our schedule by now? We don’t got all day you know!”

“Wavery, please-”

“Shut your mouth Ebba, you know I’m busy!”

The chieftain, Gaster, cleared his throat. With the vacancy of the room and his loud empowering voice, it echoed loudly through the room, ceasing the raising voices before they broke out to argument that was oftentimes all too familiar during their meetings.

The merskeleton, satisfied with the silence, swiftly turned to face the child. “Forgive me Frisk, but this is really not the time to talk.” He said calmly. “Could you please wait outside until we are finished? I’m sure it can wait.”

Frisk, however, who was far from calm vigorously shock their head. Such idea of waiting was like a punishment of death for them. They cried out, tears threatening to spill out from their eye, they told the chieftain that his son was nowhere to be found.

At this, Gaster’s concerned expression for the child vanish completely, now replaced with one of irritation and impatience.

“Again?” He inquired, sighing as he placed his hand to his forehead; the room silent before he continued. “He must’ve hid somewhere secluded. There’s no need to worry child, he’ll eventually get bored of his prank and return home. He hasn’t eaten morning meals today, so he’ll definitely return shortly. I’ll have a talk with him upon his arrival for worrying you; you’re free to leave.”

But the child didn’t seem finished; instead, they burst into tears; the salty substance blended in with the seawater around them. This time, they told the chieftain that they’ve looked everywhere for the mereskeleton, desperate for the latter to show some concern for his own son.

It wasn’t until Frisk spoke of the missing mermaid’s prior interest in the Open Vast; how he’d like the chance to spot some Landwalker as they surfed along the sea’s surface. At that, Gaster frame froze at once. His sour face morphed into one of horror and dread.

With swift yet hasty motion, the chieftain dashed to the child. Gripping their shoulders as he looked them dead in their eyes.

“Frisk, are you certain that _Sans_ would’ve gone to the Open Vast? Are you sure that he _went_ there?”   
The child nodded. Their tears seemingly slowed down, but still remained visible as they wept silently.  

“How in his rightful mind did he think going to the Open vast was a good idea?! That place is a death wish for all foolish enough!”

“Wavery, please; he just became an mid of age. He’s just having trouble-”

_“Shut your mouth, Ebba!”_

As each head of task wrangled with one another, (mainly Wavery, the rest tried to end her wrath of yells) Gaster’s eyelights went out in his sockets. His expression vacant, as well as his mind it seemed; but that did not appear to be the case.

He turned his head back to the quarreling mermaids behind him. Each became silent one by one as they took notice.

“Abhipal,” The chieftain announced, causing the head Guardian to jump in place. “Go bring Muffet, immediately. Tell her to bring all her scrolls and potions.”

The monster hybrid nodded in confirmation and swam out of the room, taking all sound with him and leaving nothing but silence behind.


	4. Chapter 4

 

The lazy rolls of waves against sand and rocks accompanied by trills and cries of seagulls scavenging the shores for any dead carcasses of sea life from the deep blue or forgotten garbage left by the residence of Home went unnoticed by the skeleton as he trudged the stone path to the central square of town. The low, warm-colored sun explicated its pastel glow that peeped from the distant ocean edges, giving the quiet island only a scanty glimpse of its wondrous array.

It was early in the morning, meaning that there wasn’t likely to be many shops or vendors open at this hour. Honestly, Papyrus should’ve thought this through more efficiently. If only he had some remaining fish from the day prior, but he was out-of-stock now. What are the chances of him getting a decent fish for Sans this early in the morning? If all else failed, he could always pay a visit to Mr. Bah's twenty-four-hour mussel stand. Do mermaids eat mussels? By the stars, he hoped Sans wasn't a picky eater.

Strolling the stone road mapped on the outskirts of the island - passing the dark lodges and cabins of monsters and humans alike - his troublesome thoughts scattered when an ever-familiar maddened _'NGAHHH'_ filled the silent air of the isolated area, followed by a window - in which the sound seemed to have spawned from - smashing open as an inflamed pan was flung into the salty bay.

Unfazed, Papyrus walked down the dead-end the stone path lead to, his objective perhaps on hold for now, or possibly, he'd just found a shortcut. Either way, his calm demeanor still remained even as Home's sheriff stomped out the door with rage emitting from her soul; razor teeth bare as she trudged to the seashore to retrieve her one and only cooking pan.

Papyrus decided it was best he supervise the fish monster in case she burnt down her house again.

\-----

"But why are you making salmon this early in the morning? And...you're a fish...doesn't that count as cannibalism?"

"Fish eat fish all the time Paps, no, it is not cannibalism. It's just when- Paps, look; you're a fisherman, you should know this shit!”

“Sorry, sorry I know, it's just," Papyrus sighed as he dropped his gaze to his cup of tea. With the events that occurred just yesterday, he had no clue on how to explain this without looking insane. How would he even explain this? He found a mermaid for crying out loud, a mythological being known only as a myth! The discovery had spawned questions upon questions that Papyrus doubted would be answered for him. Is Sans the only mermaid? Are there more? Like a community of sorts? Are there human-hybrid mermaids like in the myths or a blend? Are mermaids a rare species of human and monsters hybrids that chose to isolate themselves from the rest of society? If so, is _Undyne_ part _mermaid?!_

You can probably see where Papyrus is taking this conversation now.

"Do you... or your family... have this, uh, secret life or something? Wait, no, never mind that! What I meant was- ugh..."

“Papyrus, what the fuck are you talking about?” The sheriff spat with irk. Her lips curled up revealing her razor-like teeth clenched dangerously tight.

The skeleton dodged his eye lights to the corner of the table, hoping to avoid the agitation that burned within the monster's single oblong pupil. He wanted to tell his friend - he truly did,  but perhaps it would be best if he avoided claiming possession of a mythological for now.

"...you remember those myths of mermaids and mermen that reside in the sea and coast of the Home, right?"

Undyne remained silent, eyeing the fisherman suspiciously with her healthy right eyes. "Papyrus... the fu-"

"Can you just answer it, please?"

Undyne straightened in her seat with a sigh. "Yeah, I do. But Paps, why do you care about some stupid myth? You know their just based off stories of drunk humans mistaking dolphins for hybrid women."

"... but what if they aren't?" Papyrus let his words hover in the air as he waited for any reaction from the island's sheriff. When he got none from her, he continued. "Think about it: we exist, monsters. We're humanoid animals and inanimate objects. We're ghosts and skeletons for crying out loud, classic human legends! Who's to say that mermaids, or merpeople, are just another form of monster. Maybe more humane, but still! Maybe your species, the aquatic monsters, found a way to create or produce a whole new kind-"

"Papyrus, _shut up!"_

The skeletal monster recoiled into his seat. "I don't know why the fuck you're suddenly interested in this shit, but it's starting to get really annoying! Mermaids - or whatever you call them - don't exist! My ancestors didn’t _fuck_ and produce human-monster hybrids! So no, I'm no mermaid if that's what you're thinking!"

Papyrus felt cool sweat sweep his skull. He hadn't expected Undyne to react so strongly to the invalid theory of his. Well, he can't blame her for being sensitive to the topic of her species, her near-extinct family. She is one of the few remaining aquatic species of monsters still present on the island of Home. There was her, the single member of the fish family, a handful of monsters apart of the crustacean and mollusks family, and small families of cetaceans that were scattered about the corners of the island. The worrisome population of aquatic monsters was the result of humans in the past mistaking said species as typical, yet advanced marine creatures. The ending result nearly extinguishing the all aquatic species from the island if it weren't for the intervention of the Dreemurrs and other monsters and humans that saw the act as inhumane.

It was no secret that the sheriff, as well as other surviving aquatic monsters, still held resentment to humans, especially towards human fishermen. Hopefully, such disaster will never bestow any race or species again. But a part of Papyrus knew that if the existence of merpeople spread through the island, history would surely repeat itself.

That's why Papyrus chose to keep his mouth shut, no longer wishing to continue for the sake of Undyne slaughtered species and the mythical creatures hidden beneath the ocean’s waves; and for Sans.

Papyrus's sockets landed upon the newly placed seasoned salmon the was slowly cooking atop the metal pan at the stove. The boiling oil and fat that envelope the frying fish scented the room with its fatty stench as bubbles crackled and popped. The monster looked back to Undyne, confusion present in his features.

"Undyne, can you tell me why you're frying salmon this early in the morning? Didn't you say you usually have golden flower tea for breakfast?"

The fish monster's scowl softened at the statement. She directed her attention to the cup of golden flower tea seated before her at the table and gulped the brew down in one shot. Papyrus ignored the red hue forming on the sheriff's face.

"...it's for...Dr. Alphys..." She whispered placing the empty cup back onto the table. "Just a thank you gift is all!” She hastily added as her face flared up bright red. “...for all the times she had to heal my sorry ass...."

Papyrus brushed off the redhead's obvious sign of passion towards the stuttering doctor and focused instead on the cooking salmon and the mysterious scheme he knew he would regret dearly in the future if Undyne were ever to find out. "I was supposed to go to Alphy's for a checkup later today. If you want, I can bring the salmon to her then and tell her it was from you. That way, you won't have to run back and forth through town during your shift." And if it was okay with Alphys, he could give the salmon to Sans. That way, the skeleton wouldn't have to waste so much time searching and preparing fish all the while Sans suffered through starvation. And knowing Alphys, he was certain that the good doctor would sacrifice a gift directed for her to someone who needed it more. Either she was a truly selfless monster or just didn't know how to say no without being riddled with guilt.

Undyne perked up in interest at fisherman's offering. She turned to the frying salmon before sighing. "...okay, yeah...thanks Paps. Let me just finish real quick and I'll wrap it in a box for you."  

\-----

The salty sea air mixed with ash and fire smoke stung the skeleton's fictitious throat as he rushed up the stone road. The fisherman's porcelain bones were defiled by wild flames emitted from the wrathy stove of the sheriff. Nothing permanent, but quite unpleasant. Nonetheless, when the salmon was finally rescued from the wall of flames - amazingly not burnt into ash - Papyrus plopped the fried fish into its package and sped out from the smoke-filled house. Part of Papyrus felt a twinge of guilt for leaving Undyne to air out her home all by herself, but they spent at least two hours saving the house from crashing down after Undyne decided to speed up the frying of the fish and didn't hesitate to turn the knob at maximum, unleashing hell in the fish monster's kitchen. Let's just say that this was yet another lesson that Undyne failed to learn.

Coming up the familiar road to Dr. Alphys' residence, his pace quickened until he reached the Doctor's building front door. The house lacked any light and was toned in soothing darkness as the sun had yet to cast overhead of the island and no creak of the floor was present, indicating the Dr. Alphys was either absent from the building or was still in bed.  

Ever so quietly, the fisherman made his way through the dim halls. Wincing when the floorboards moaned and when he bumped or tripped on furniture in the waiting room or Alphys' scattered belongings and projects until he reached the stairs to the second story of the building.

Making his way to the upstairs bathroom, Papyrus speed walked the rest of the way there. It wasn't until he seized the bathroom door handle did he hear any voice or thrashing of water. For when the skeleton opened the door, he found a sweaty Alphys seated beside the tub trying desperately to ease the spooked merskeleton.  

\-----

“Chieftain Gaster!”

The merskeleton stood idly for the head of Guardian's to continue his message. Abhipal collected himself in the doorway before delivering his report to the leader of the merpeople.

“Pythoness Muffet is here with her supplies as requested. She's awaiting your arrival in the foyer as we speak.”


End file.
